In India, a Boom in Private Security Agencies

By SANJOY HAZARIKA, Special to the New York Times

Published: March 6, 1988

NEW DELHI, March 5—
Private security agencies, which provide guards, security systems and investigators for industrial and individual use, have become big business in India because of growing wealth, greater business competition and the fear of terrorism in the Punjab.

In the 1970's there were barely a half-dozen investigation companies. They were concerned primarily with looking into cases of marital infidelity and business fraud. Some provided night guards at homes and factories.

But faced with a growing number of complex investigations, private agencies have adopted modern practices.

They work with police networks to help supply security at public functions, provide bodyguards for businessmen and for those fearing terrorist attacks. They also install electronic devices to track or deter retail crime. Security work has become a multi-million dollar business that is believed to employ more than 200,000 people.

There are 700 private security agencies in India. The agencies are licensed as businesses because there is no provision under Indian law for licensing detective agencies. Government officials, citing violations of labor laws, sought last year to ban such enterprises. The move failed.

There are more than 80 private agencies in New Delhi, employing 50,000 guards and other workers, industry officials said. The guards are used in homes, banks, factories and businesses.

Subhash Wadhawan, the chief of the United Bureau of Industrial Security Agencies, said Indian companies often hired private investigators to check out competitors.

For some, a personal guard has become something of a status symbol, although not many can afford the privilege. The Government, however, will pay to protect politicians and family members when they are believed to be the targets of Sikh terrorists.

The anti-Sikh riots that took place after the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who was slain by her Sikh bodyguards in October 1984, led several prominent Sikhs to ask private agencies for protection while they shifted to more secure areas.

The fear of terrorist attacks, which claimed 30 lives here last year and more than 1,200 in the Punjab, is another factor in the growth of private security agencies.

The tight protection is especially visible at the homes and offices of high-level officials and politicians. Visitors are checked with metal detectors and subjected to body searches. The high-walled homes of some officials are guarded by policemen with automatic weapons.

Thousands of policemen function as bodyguards for ministers and others, creating a shortage of trained law-enforcement officials. According to private agencies, this has increased the need for trained guards. The agencies prefer to recruit from among former police and military personnel.

Guards patrol Government banks, international airports and the offices of Government corporations. Most are armed with staves, although some have shotguns and pistols. By law they are prevented from carrying high-caliber weapons. Several were killed last year by armed bank robbers.

''The weapons are for self-protection, for defense and not for any offensive action,'' said one security consultant. ''So they are no match for a well-equipped foe.''